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Category Archives: Obituary, Tributes

It is nine years since Comrade Jyoti Basu, former Chief Minister of W.Bengal for 23 years, PB Member of CPI(M) since its formation in 1964, and also a veteran trade union leader, passed away on 17th January 2010. He was not only an ideologue but a practical communist, who worked for the upliftment of the people. As the Vice-President of the CITU for a long period, he gave correct direction to the trade union movement.

I had been fortunate to meet and discuss with on two-three occasions, mainly on the issue of BSNL. At the 2005 Party Congress at Delhi, I could meet him and discuss about the developments in BSNL and the need for all the state government departments taking up BSNL connections only. He fully supported the idea and assured that there will be full support from the W.Begal government.

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Com. Mohar singh, former member of the Central Committee of CPI(M) and former Secretary of Himachal State Committee passed away on 11th January 2019 at the age of 68.

Mohar Singh began his political life as a student activist in Himachal Pradesh and built the student movement in Himachal Pradesh. He became the Acting Secretary of the State Committee from 1985 to 1991. From 1991 to 2004, he was elected as the Secretary of the State Committee. He was one of the important leaders of the Party in Himachal Pradesh and played a key role in expanding the Party in Himachal Pradesh. He also played an important role in the political education of Party members.

In his death we have a lost a leader who served the people till his death.

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COM.S.S.SEN, VETERAN P and T LEADER IS NO MORE.
HE PASSED IN BANGALORE ON 27-10-2018 AT 03-30PM . HE WAS 86.
COM.S.S.SEN LONG LIVE.

A Tribute to the veteran leader Com.S.S.Sen, who passed away. He was one of the comrades who were arrested and jailed during Emergency of 1975. Go through the following write up:

“That was the 6th day of November , 1975. Dark days of emergency imposed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi were looming large over democratic movements of our country. One Police Inspector keeping his force outside entered into the then Sub Record Office at Guwahati under RMS “GH” Division and took the chair in front of a young man working there and asked curisoulsy “Are you Mr.—–? with militant posture and uncompromising determination, the man just crossed his fourty, instantly replied “Yes, I am Mr.Sudhendu Sekhar Sen whom you are searching for”.

The Inspector with his regretful expression contended Com.S.S.Sen (popularly known as Sudha Sen) that it was the order from the high echelons of power that was was bound to carry out and for that reason he should not be misunderstood. After completion of all formalities including permission from the Senior Superintendent, Com.S.S.Sen was arrested and taken away to the Guwahati Central Jail.

There in the Central Jail and elsewhere in Assam they had to wait for 15 to 19 months to get released from jail until the emergency was lifted. After the release from the jail also they were not spared. All of them were transferred to the remotest hilly corners of the North Eastern Region, only to be brought back when the Janatha Government came in to power in 1977.

Perhaps this is the unmatched chapter of the history of the trade union movement in the central government employees’ front where as many as 8 (eight) top leaders were put into jail with an intention to crush the democratic trade union movement. Needless to say that second union (FNPTO) in the P&T was formed with the government’s patronage to sabotage the historic 1968 central government employees’ strike.

Government tried to form the union in the NE Region also but could not get in road even after putting the entire top leadership behind the bars.

Rock like unity of the workers at the ground level remained intact throughout the emergency regime and all the jailed leaders were re-elected to their respective positions in the union hierarchy as when the conferences were due and held amidst prevailing situation. These leaders were also amongst the galaxy of leaders of Central including Railways, State, Insurance and Banking sectors who were instrumental in formation of the JOINT COUNCIL OF TRADE UNIONS, ASSAM in 1973 through a massive convention of workers in Guwahati inaugurated by Com.K.G.Bose and also attended by George Fernadaz, Com. Jagadindra Bhattarcharjee along with Achyut Deka of LIC took the mantle of this joint forum as first Joint Conveners. Later on the JCTU, Assam withstood the test of time and created may histories in the trade union movement in Assam.That legacy has still been continued.

In the early 1990’s also Regional Coordination Committee of P&T employees Unions (NFPE), North East Region with Com.S.S.Sen as Convener again made the history by organizing the longest ever successfull strike of the white colour employees in the history of India demanding Special Duty Allowance (SDA). The strike started on November 15, 1991 under the leadership of RCC of P&T Employees Unions, NE Region to end the discrimination by implementing Court Judgement. The entire RCC leadershp including Co.S.S.Sen, Com.J.Bhattacharjee, Com.R.P.Sharma, \Com. Sasadhar Deb, Com.B.C.Das, Com.S.K.Das, Com.M.R.Das, Com.J.N.Mishraexhibited the exemplary leadership quality to continue the strike with tactical perfectness and extreme patience. No door of any Post Office and RMS office was opened for long 38 days upto 22nd December, 1991 until an agreement was signed between NFPE and the Department of Posts in the presence of Minister of Communications . Subsequently the discrimination was ended and SDA was granted to all the CG Employees of NE Region irrespective of transfer liabilities”.

RED SALUTE TO COM.S.S.SEN

WE VOW TO CARRY FORWARD THIS LEGACY …

(Courtesy: Confederation website)

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Che Guevara, one of the greatest revolutionaries the world has ever seen, was murdered by the imperialists and their stooges on, 9th October 1967, in the forest of Bolivia, where he was fighting for the freedom of the country.

He was with Fidel Castro on their siege of Cuba for making the country free. He was a Minister of Cuba in the Fidel Castro Communist Government, but left every thing and went to Bolivia to continue his revolutionary activities. He was caught and killed in cold-blood.

Che Guevara Born on 14-06-1928. Martyrdom 09-October 1967.

Red Salute Comrade! You will ever live in the memory of the exploited and the freedom loving people of the world!

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Com. E.Raghava Kurup, senior leader of NFPTE and former District Secretary of AITEU Class III, Kozhikode District passed away at his home, Vatakara, Kozhikode District in the midnight of 4-5 October 2018. He was 77. He was not well for some time and was under treatment.

Com. Kurup became a member of the union immediately after joining the P and T department and participated in all the struggles, strikes and agitations. He was in the forefront of the 1968 One Day strike of the CG employees and was awarded punishments. He was sincere, firm and close with his co-workers. He worked at Calicut and then got transferred to Vatakara from where he retired from service. He was very active in social activities and was the spirit behind the library and reading room near his home.
He leaves behind his wife and three sons. Wreaths were laid on behalf of BSNLEU, AIBDPA, NFPE and others.

A condolence meeting was held after the cremation in the nearby library. Coms. V.A.N.Namboodiri, K.V.Jayarajan, K.Damodaran and others spoke about the contributions of the deceased and expressed condolences.

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2nd October 2018 is the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation.

His life entire life was full of struggles, inner and outside. On the one side he fought relentlessly, continued sustained struggles for Independence of the country from the British yoke. On the other side, he fought for inner purity and consciousness. In both he was successful at the end.

He fought for justice and equality to the underprivileged. He fought for a secular nation. The fight has to continue, since both are under threat.

Respectful Homage to Gandhiji on his 150th Birth Anniversary!

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Comrade D.K.Dhaktod, Vice-President, National co-ordination Committee of Pensioners Association (NCCPA) passed away at Nagpur at 8.00 P.M yesterday. Comrade Dhaktod’s life is an inspiration to all. His commitment, dedication, sincerity and humbleness will always be remembered. His contributions to the movement of employees and pensioners are great. He held the responsibilities of General Secretary of P&T Audit & Accounts Employees Association during the formative stage of that militant association. Along with comrade S.K.Vyas, he took all leading role in strengthening the united ‘Joint Action Committee’ of all Audit and Accounts Associations of various departments to reach victory on vital demand of parity will always remain green in memory of thousands of accounts employees. He played his yeoman role in the movement of confederation of CG employees. He was the Chairman of Nagpur CGPA organisation that has a great role in uniting all pensioners under NCCPA. He was the Chairman of Vidharba Coordinating committee of Pensioners Associations. Despite his health, he hosted the National Executive of NCCPA at Nagpur recently. His presentations in our meetings were up to the point and vital. His contributions in the united meeting of various pensioners’ organisations in framing the common memorandums of Pensioners before successive pay commissions were memorable. His concerns to the suffering pensioners and family pensioners exhibited in his every action is an inspiring example for everyone to emulate. We have indeed suffered irreparably in his passing away.
Whenever he used to come to Delhi to attend the meetings of NCCPA, which were held usually in D-7, Telegraph Quarters, where I stayed, we used to talk about the old times, the struggles of the CG employees etc. He usually came along with Com. B.P.Petkar, who is also from Nagpur, since moving alone was difficult at his age.

Red Salute to Com. D.K.Dakhtod!

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With deep grief it is intimated that Com. R.S Yadav, veteran leader, former Vice-President of NFPTE, Circle Secretary of E.III Union of undivided U.P.Circle for a period of 40 years as also Circle President later, passed away today, 30th August 2018. He was not well for some time. He was 86.

Com. R.S.Yadav was a giant of a leader taking all together in the forward march. I cherish the long bond with him for many years and the struggle for democracy in the organisation. He has written books on Trade Union and translated the famous book “Gadfly” in to Hindi. On my request, he had translated in to Hindi, the book on Communist pioneer, Com. Hyder Amir Khan, written by Com. Mohd. Amin, former PBM of CPI(M). His death is an irreparable loss.

I convey my heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family, friends and comrades.

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With great sorrow it is informed that Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, three times Prime Minister of India and a great statesman has passed away at 17.30 hours today at a Delhi hospital. He was ailing for some time and was under treatment. He was 93.

Our respected homage to the great leader! We convey our heart felt condolences to the bereaved family and friends.

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Com. Somnath Chatterjee, former Speaker of Lok Sabha, veteran CPI(M) leader and a renowned senior advocate passed away today, 13th August 2018, at a Kolkata hospital. He was 89. Chatterjee was admitted at a south Kolkata nursing home last Tuesday following a kidney related ailment. On Sunday he suffered a heart attack and was put on ventilator support. He passed away at 8.15 am today due to multi-organ failure. He had been in and out of hospital since June-end after suffering a stroke. Chatterjee had celebrated his 89th birthday on July 29, 2018.
His body was taken out from Hospital to Calcutta High Court and kept there, where large number advocates, legal luminaries and others paid homage. Later the body was taken to the State assembly and then to his house in Basant Roy Road, where body was kept till it was handed over to the Medical College as per his will.
Lok Sabha Speaker from 2004 to 2009, Somnath Chatterjee was Member of Parliament for 10 times and was acknowledged as one of its most brilliant members. He has served as Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committees. His death is a great loss to the nation.
Many people had told me that he is always serious and is not easy to deal with. But my experience has been completely different. I had met him several times, when he was an M.P. and also when he was the Speaker. He was very friendly and benevolent and spent time to understand our issues and helped. A few instances will help to understand his helping hand.
The first major issue on which I met him was about the report of the V Central Pay Commission (1996) recommending either closure or privatisation of 7 Telecom Factories at Alipur, Gopalpur, and Kharagpur ( W.Bengal), Jabalpur, Richai, Bhilai ( M.P. – now Bhilai is in Chhatisgarh) and Bombay. All the telephone equipment was being manufactured in these telecom factories in addition to the Indian Telephone Industries Ltd (ITI). Due to the introduction of higher technologies, some of these factories were not having sufficient work. There were more than 10,000 workers, both industrial and non-industrial, engaged in these factories. Closure or privatisation of these factories would result in loss of thousands of jobs as also the entire production of equipment will go to corporates. Hence, me, as General Secretary of the All India Telecom Employees Union Class III (N), approached Com. Somanath Chatterjee, M.P., who was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee,Telecommunications. Com.S.D.Choudhury from Bombay Telecom Factory, Com. Sujit Chatterjee from Calcutta Telecom Factory along with their senior comrades came and explained the details of the Telecom Factories. He patiently heard us and said to give a detailed letter, which we gave. The issue was taken as an item in the committee and we were also called as also the DOT officers, including Chairman, Telecom Commission. In its sitting on 28th October 1998, we, myself, Coms. Sujit Chatterjee, Circle Secretary Telecom Factory and Pranab Roy, Vice-President, P and T Industrial Workers Union, presented with facts and figures that the telecom factories should not be closed/privatised, but should be modernised and new products should be manufactured. The DOT officers also generally supported our stand. Com.Somnath Chatterjee, as Chairman of the Committee gave a favourable decision on March 31, 1999, recommending the government not to privatise/close and instead modernise of the factories. This saved the factories from closure/ privatisation and new products were taken up in the factories. The role of Com. Somnath Chatterjee in this respect will never be forgotten by the telecom workers and especially the telecom factory workers.
The second incident I want to mention is about the court case filed against the order of the DOT in refusing recognition to the duly elected General Secretary of the All India Telecom Employees union Class III, Com. Moni Bose. On the complaint of Com. O.P.Gupta, who was defeated from the post of General Secretary at the Bhopal All India Conference in 1991, DOT refused recognition to Moni Bose on the plea that he is a terminated employee. Moni Bose filed a case in Calcutta High Court through Com. Somnath Chatterjee. Com. Chatterjee pointed out to the Court that how can the department deny recognition to Moni Bose, who is a terminated employee of P and T Department, while for about three decades O.P.Gupta, a person who never worked in the Department was granted recognition as General Secretary. The High Court gave judgment asking the DOT to grant recognition to Moni Bose as General Secretary. The judgment was a slap on the face of both DOT and O.P.Gupta. The status of Somanth Chatterjee and his highly effective argument helped the union in a big way.
The third incident is about me approaching him, as per advice of Com. E.Balanandan, M.P. for appearing in a case filed in the Delhi High Court against the decision of the DOT denying recognition to the union, after the member ship verification, pointing out the umpteen violation of rules and favouritism of DOT towards O.P.Gupta. Our Advocate Shri Sudhir Makkar was also there. He started laughing and showed his advocate’s coat hanging on the wall stating that the party (CPI(M) has told him to completely concentrate on Parliament etc. and showed the holes in the coat due to non-use. He also told me that it is very difficult to get a favourable judgment as per the verification report. In the last moment, we engaged senior advocate Mukul Rohatagi, who later became Attorney General in 2014. He argued the case. Although we could not get recognition, despite the violations, favouritism etc., OPG also did not get recognition and a fresh verification was ordered. This was partly a success. After the judgment, I again went to Somanth Chatterjee and showed the same. He was extremely happy and told me that it was one of the best judgments we could get in the circumstances.
After his return to Calcutta, I went to his office one day and met him along with Com. A.K.Bhattacharjee, former Circle Secretary, Calcutta and the present All India President of AIBDPA. He was happy in meeting us and asked about the functioning of the union. The office was full of law books as in the case of any advocate. There were many books on politics, culture etc. etc. An impressive library!
Com. A.K.Bhattacharjee told me about how Somnath Chatterjee argued and won an important case in which 13 senior leaders including Com. Anima Banerjee and Goswami were transferred out of the circle alleging political connection at the time when Shri C.M.Stephen was the Communications Minister. All the transfers were cancelled.
I cherish the memory of meeting him on certain other issues also. Always he was helpful. Never had I to return from his office, without meeting him. He will also ask his assistant to bring tea.
Thank you, Com. Somnath Chatterjee! I or my union can never forget you! While expressing my extreme sorrow at the passing away of Com. Somnath Chatterjee, I convey my heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family, friends and comrades!
Red Salute to Com. Somnath Chatterjee!